By Dayna Ryan

Special to The Sentinel

The University of Maryland's violent crime ratings have come a long way since a 2006 FBI report deemed the College Park Campus among the most dangerous in the nation.

According to the university's annual crime report released last month, sex offenses, robbery and aggravated assault are among the campus crimes where the most significant decreases were observed. The number of sexual offenses and robberies were nearly cut in half since 2006 when 31 sexual offenses and 13 robberies were reported.

The 2007 FBI Crime Report released last month indicated a drop in violent crimes on campus from 32 to 18 since 2006. This means that the crime rates decreased from about 0.9 per 1,000 students to about 0.5 per 1,000 students. Ratings denote a 0.6 decrease per 1,000 students since the 2005 report was issued.

"Our investigators and patrol officers have excellent closure rates," said University Police spokesman Paul Dillon. "Our patrol staff is currently more aggressive than ever."

Although violent crime rates are decreasing overall, other crimes in the area currently deserve special attention. Theft continues to be one of the university's most common crimes, and breaking and entering offenses are currently increasing in the area as well.

There were three crime alerts near the Leonardtown dorm and Baltimore Boulevard in recent weeks. Two of the alerts involved armed robberies in which one of the suspects was charged with theft over $500.

In order to deal with the public perception that the campus isn't safe, University Police have taken several measures to alleviate this view, such as increasing the number of surveillance cameras in the area.

"In 2006 we implemented SERT, a specialized emergency response team, used to target specific areas and certain crime," said Dillon. "We've had a lot of good police work, and our new initiatives are having a positive effect on violence."

Luckily, campus crime isn't the only violence plummeting in surrounding areas. According to a Washington Post report released last month, violent crime fell by 5.2 percent in the District, 5.4 percent in Maryland and 3.6 percent in Virginia from the previous year.

The FBI report confirmed that Morgan State University in Baltimore City has the leading violent crime rate in the surrounding Maryland area. There were 25 violent crimes committed last year on a campus of about 6,700 students. These numbers indicate that nearly 3.7 crimes were accounted for per 1,000 students.

According to the report, Frostburg and Bowie State Universities are among other area campuses with relatively high crime ratings per enrollment, and Towson University's crime rate grew from about .39 to .69 per 1,000 students in 2007.

University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Los Angeles continue to peak crime rankings nationwide encompassing crime rates both greater than 1 per 1,000 students. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Penn State University, University Park are of the nations safest college campuses with low rates of 0.1 and 0.2.

As for the College Park campus, University Police and campus security officials are doing everything in their power not only to maintain, but to improve campus crime rankings for the future.

"Eighteen crimes is certainly below our 10-year average," said Dillon. "We are trying to make College Park an unfriendly environment for today's criminals."